


Genesis Rising

by loosingletters



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Languages and Linguistics, Latin, Poverty, Racism, Treasure Hunting, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 06:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10634607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: Living in the slums of Genesis isn’t easy, but Alabaster manages by smuggling the nobles’ belongings in and out of the desert city. That all changes when Alabaster gets hired by a librarian. Soon Alabaster finds himself traveling across the globe – trying to find Earth’s strongest weapon before everyone else does.





	1. Genesis Rising [WIP] Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just the prologue for a story I wrote for my Dad as his birthday present.  
> I have done lots of worldbuilding for it, I'm even coming up with a unique language for it, but so far I haven't actually written much of the story itself.  
> Enjoy!

_(Antelogium)_

The moment sunset began and the night started to offer its precious protection to everyone who knew how to use it, the outer parts of Genesis came to life. Between the narrow alleys of high buildings, the street kids, _impuberi nox_ and _liberi nox,_ finally came out after spending the hot day inside of their hideouts. They searched for work, possible errand jobs to run and whatever other offers they could make. There were a lot more _liberi_ on the streets than in the years before. Probably because there were more children all together and all of them needed to be fed. Simple jobs just didn’t suffice anymore.

But the street children weren’t the only ones who preferred the night to the day. Thieves, dealers, smugglers, _meretri_ – all the people the upper class and nobles of Genesis would love to pretend didn’t exist to tarnish the city’s image. Hypocrites, all of them, as so often the poorly disguised nobles would come down from their palaces to indulge in what the _habitanti de nox_ , denizens of the night, had to offer.

Then again, Alabster himself was also such a hypocrite. He judged the upper class when he was dependant on them for a steady income, be it money, drugs, alcohol or weapons he supplied them with.

He tucked a strand of his black hair behind his ear for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour and thought of getting a haircut. A luxury he sure could afford, but refused to spend. It was disgraceful to let people who didn’t belong to your own ethnicity cut your hair – at least for Ahk’ran people like him. Even if he didn’t hold onto many of his cultures traditions, this one he still practiced. Never mind that little Ran’hi always had a lot of fun cutting his hair. The haircuts the little five year old provided him with weren’t anywhere near good, but they did their job. Besides, he paid two denari for her each month to be taken in by one of the many _liberi_ groups. It would be a waste of money if she wouldn’t at least cut his hair and he hers in turn.

The belfry told him it was time to start his job and so Alabaster headed for the main street. It was busy already and terribly loud. A few _liberi_ ran into him, hoping to steal from him. Here and there a _meretrix_ waved at him, a sweet fake smile in place. In between the masses, Alabaster could spot a few familiar faces, displaying various expressions at seeing him. Smiles were rare, most of the people looked rather grim. Alabaster wasn’t exactly well liked. When he had come to the city, he’d quickly gained the favor of the people high up in the city as Alabaster was quick with his deliveries and had not been caught by the guards even once unlike the other smugglers. Alabaster’s reputation had grown and stolen away jobs from the others. It was their own fault. If they sucked, they got no work, simple as that.

Alabaster approached the market place and sat down at the fountain. He was meeting with a new client this time. The only thing he knew so far was, that he was supposed to get something out of the country. Usually it was the other way round but he didn’t mind. This way he could go and pick up a few things to bring back. He could get multiple jobs done while only really doing one. _That_ he called good business.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, finally a figure came closer that was so obviously a stranger to the slums that Alabaster wanted to bury his head in the sand. He was overdressed, literally. Nobody here in Genesis’ outskirts would wear that many clothes. Most people wore enough to be at least somewhat warm in the cold nights. Too many clothes also restricted the much needed mobility and not to forget that nobody really had that many clothes to wear. And never were their clothes as good looking as the strangers; never mind that white. Alabaster’s new client was definitely an idiot if he thought he was being subtle. On top of his ridiculous appearance, he looked around like a hunted man. He was just asking to be robbed, if he hadn’t been already.

After having made his way through the people, the man sat down at the fountain too.

“Ezra?” Alabaster asked him, making the man jumped up.

“YES! Are you my-“

“Yes,” Alabaster interrupted, cutting the man off before he could expose them to the world. Information was money and Alabaster certainly wouldn’t let himself and his business get used.

The man pulled off his hood, revealing forest green eyes and a relieved smile. The man’s light skin and red hair really worked for staying unnoticed in a place where most people had brown or black hair and were a few shades darker than Ezra. It was impossible to refrain from gaining a tan in Genesis if you actually worked on the streets. Who was this man and what was his job that he had porcelain white skin? But maybe the man wasn’t all that stupid if he had managed to come so far despite his outward appearance.

“Let’s go,” Alabaster ordered and led them behind one of the bigger bars at the market place. Ezra followed him obediently, just like a lost puppy.

As soon as they were out of sight, Alabaster allowed himself to relax a little, and turned to Ezra.

“Alright, what’s the job?” He asked.

“Get something of immense worth over the border,” Ezra immediately answered, his words free of the slums’ accent. He talked like an aristocrat.

“How big is it and how much are you paying me?”

Ezra hesitated, but then opened his bag, pulling out something wrapped in colorful fabrics. He carefully peeled them off, revealing an old book that had probably seen better days.

“I can offer you ten denari to get this and me over the border,” Ezra said and with that everything was settled for Alabaster.

“Then the deal’s off,” Alabaster replied. “Ten denari to get this book over the country’s border? Fine. But you too? No. And I don’t smuggle people out of the country on principle. _Vale._ ”

With that Alabster began to walk again, getting away from the man and the almost offending offer. Getting things over the border was dangerous already but a human too? And all of that only for ten denari. Alabaster wasn’t a cheap _meretrix_. He couldn’t believe that he had to cancel appointments with his other good and more important clients for this. Half the night already wasted. Maybe he could still try to get word to somebody and get at least some work done. That was the exact reason Alabaster hated meeting new clients, most of them wasted his time rather than help him make the best of it.

He stepped onto the busy street again, only to be pulled back. His waste-of-time-not-client had grabbed his hand.

“Please!” The man shouted loud enough for bystanders to turn their heads. “This is bigger than you or me!”

“Oh, shut it!” Alabaster replied and tried to get out of the grip. Surprisingly the other’s grasp was as hard as iron and he didn’t let go at all. “Let go of me, you-“

“There he is!”

Let it be said that there usually weren’t any guards in Genesis’ outskirts. The only guards that could be found down here were those at the city’s entrance and those positioned at the gates leading into the higher parts of Genesis. Any guards here on the market, chasing obviously in Alabaster’s direction, were highly unusual.

“Oh, gods,” Ezra whispered. “They found me!”

Alabaster turned to him, a thousand questions in his mind. “They found _you_? What did you do?”

But Ezra didn’t answer as instead he just began to run back into the alley, pulling Alabaster along.

“Let go of me!” He protested but Ezra didn’t let go of him, nor did he stop.

“If the guards catch us, it’s all over!”

“They’re after you though and not me!”

Ezra shook his head and took a turn left. This street would only lead them back to the market.

“It’s too late. They’ll think your my accomplice and will kill you the moment they set their eyes on you.”

Alabaster bit back a snarky comment and instead focused on escaping. If Ezra’s words were true, the man would get them killed if he kept leading them through this maze he obviously didn’t know.

 _Fine_.

In favor of surviving the encounter with the guards, Alabaster suppressed his urge to go and kill the other man himself for having managed to ruin Alabaster’s carefully built life within an hour of knowing each other.

“Follow me then,” Alabaster announced and took a sharp turn right, knocking over clay vases. He led them further away from the still cleaner and lighter parts of the slums into those parts in which only the night ruled.

“I can’t see!” Ezra hissed and Alabaster smirked.

“Don’t worry, I can see just fine.”

And that was really the only actual advantage they had over their persecutors. The guards were all high and mighty, superiority complexes incarnated. They believed themselves to be invincible. That was, in the end, the precise reason they wouldn’t be able to follow the duo too. The guards had never bothered to learn how to see in the dark, unlike the _habitanti de nox_ , to whom day or night made only a slight difference in their ability to see.

Alabaster began to slow down and stopped walking all together as he waited for Ezra to catch his breath again.

“I’m not somebody who likes to ask the same question twice, but alas: What the hell did you do to get chased by the guards? To get a kill on sight order?”

Ezra offered him a tired smile. “I stole the _ichnographia de dei_.”

“The _what_?” Alabaster asked, unfamiliar with the first word.

“The map of the gods. A book that is said to reveal the path to the old Ahk’ran Gods – and the weapon they hid away.”


	2. Translations & Alphabet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I basically just stole Latin vocabulary because I don't have the time and am also just a bit too lazy to come up with my own words. My grammar though, that's unique.

** Translations: **

impuberi nox – night children (pre-teens: 1 to 12/13)

liberi nox – night children (children from 12/13 to 18)

liberi – children (of all ages)

meretrix, meretri – prostitute, prostitutes

habitanti de nox – denizens of the night

denari – currency used in Genesis. One denarius is roughly 40€

Vale – good bye

ichnographia de dei – map of the gods

 

**Ahk'ran alphabet:**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
